Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-03-03

every once in q while tl,c cow would
polish her horns in the ceiling If Sam S
pants. Bill could not get his hands
out of the rope. and. as he had short
less, he had hard work keeping up
with the procession, or rather in no'
| letting 60. He rap 90 fast that the
kinks in his wool slaughtered out
Finally he S.sped'
BIRD ARCHITECTURE.
Nest Building Dependent Upon Environ.
ment, Not Instinct.
The way in which . bird builds its
uest, seemingly without instruction.
thought or experience. has been re-
pestedly brought forward as a convino-
Ing pref of blind infallible instinct
governing it in its task. No more popu-
lar proof has been brought forward by
the supporters of the blind instincs
theory than that of bird architecture
It is thought wonderful thing for .
bird to build a nest without any in.
structiOn or without ever seeing a nest
typical of its species. That birds are
carable of such marvellous powers has
long ago been denied by Mr.. Wallace.
and we have not particle of evidence
that such is the case ("Nat. Selection.
and Seebohm's Brit. b." ii. Introd.).
Indeed the evidence. such as we can
CLEAN. goes far to disprOve the presence
Of any such instructive power. Birds
brought up in confinement have been
found not to make nest typical to
their species, but generally content
themselves with forming rudimentary
mountaineering lot of material to
gether without any design, or even lay
ing their eggs on the bare ground with
no provision at all! In my opinion,
however. the conditions of life are so
changed when bird is kept in confine-
ment. that too much weight should not
be attached to its actions in captivity.
and the experiment has never. to my
knowledge, fairly been tried with wild
birds, or birds under normal condi-
tons.
A remarkable instance, however, OF
q changed mode of nest building has
just been brought to my notice by Mr..
w. Burton, the well-known naturalist
of Wardour Street. Some time ago his
brother (nOw employed at the museum
at Wellington, N. L. }. took out to New
Zealand . number of young birds Of
our common native species, with the
view of introducing them to the Anti
Podes. Among them were some young
chaffinches (Fringilla calebs). These
were turned out and have thriven well
in wild state. bidding fair to perna-
nently establish this charming little
bird in our distan, colonies. Some Of
the birds have built a nest; and to Mr..
Burton l am indebted for photograph
of the wonderful structure they have
woven 1t is evidently built in the fork
of branch. and shows very Little OF
that neatness IF fabrication for which
the bird is noted in England The ma
terials with which it is made seem yer,
different too. The cup of the nest is
small, loosely put together, APPARENT,
lined with feathers. and the walls of the
structure are prolonged for about
eighteen inches, and hang loosely down
the side of the supporting branch.
The whole structure bears some re-
semblance to the nests of the hang.
nests Qcteride), with the exception that
the cavity containing the eggs is situated
on the top. Clearly these New Zea,
land chaffinches were at loss for a de-
sign when fabricating their nest. They
had no standard to work BY. no nests
of their own to copy, no Older birds to
give them any instruction, and the re-
suit is the abr ormal structure I have
Just described. Perhaps these cAAf-
inches initiated in some degree ~
nest of some New Zealand species, q
it may be that the few resemblaDsps
this extraordinary structure presents
to the typical nest of the Pal9a-cto
chaffinca are the results of memory
the dim remembrance of the nest in
which they had been reared. but which
had almost been effaced by novel sur.
roundings and changed conditions Of
life. Anyway we have here at last q
most interesting and convincing proof
tina: birds do not make their nests BY
blind instinct, but by initiating the
nest in which they were reared. aided
largely by ,.sdmentary reason and by
:re.pory. have not the least doubt
that. 4 I'd these young chaffinches been
hatched n On 1lien nest in this country
and never allowed to see a nest typical
of their species. pr have any connec-
ton with old and experienced birds.
the results would have been still more
startling and strange. Man has to
learn the particular art of h0use-buld-
ing practiccd by his own peculiar race
birds have 20 do the samel-CAsries
Dizos. - Natsre.